Father Brown and the Baxter Twins
by AvalonReeseFanFics
Summary: Father Brown is perplexed by the appearance of a girl in the town of Kembleford who claims she was held captive. Is it because of the familial ties she has to a Notorious Crime Leader or is something more sinister at play? With the girl getting closer and closer to Sid Carter Father Brown must discover if she truly is the victims she says she is. / Rated M just in case. [SidxOC]
1. Chapter 1

Father Brown and the Baxter Twins

 **AvalonReeseFanFics**

 _A/N: Trying a new writing style here. I hope it reads okay. I love Sid as a character and it surprises me that there aren't more fanfictions about him... more about Father Brown in general actually. Please tell me what you think!_

Chapter 1: The Girl on the Moor (Unedited)

* * *

Wriggling got the ropes loose and then she was running. Running as fast as she could away from the literal hole in the ground where she had been held captive and the two men that had been holding there. She ran through the trees at a speed that surprised her seeing that she had been underground for... well... she didn't know how long she had been underground, dealing with all sorts of terrible tortures that she didn't want to think about anymore.

She burst through the bushes and out onto the misty moonlit moor. She caught her breath and searched the moor for any sign of a good place to hide other then throwing herself down into the grass in the middle of the moor in the hopes that they wouldn't notice her. In her search she spotted a light in the distance just as she heard the frantic scramble of footsteps on the wooded path behind her.

The girl in distress made up her mind. Unlike other girls in distress she didn't scream and give away her position. Instead she sprinted forward towards the light, hoping that whatever it was could help her.

* * *

Sidney Carter had had such a lovely night out, filled with smoking, booze and pretty woman. His little green caravan was spinning all around him, as he got himself ready for bed. But even lying down the world spun around him in a dizzying display. It was on nights like this that he swore he wouldn't drink anymore, wouldn't be found at late night rowdy parties or consorting with women who were known heartbreakers or little minxes. He'd tell himself that he'd settle himself down, get a real house, find himself a proper woman, and a respectable job that didn't involve him nicking things or finding a cheap buck. But who would hire a man with a record like his, what proper lady would love a man with a reputation like his. And then the next night, or the next weekend he'd end up in the pub again making the same mistakes.

Poor Father Brown kept trying to keep him on the righteous path but Sid kept falling off of it.

In his drunken stupor Sid almost missed the knocking on his door, at first it was in time with the pounding of his head so he was certain he was imagining it. Then it broke out of time with the pounding and he realized there was someone at his door in the wee hours of the morning. He briefly wondered if it was one of the women he had been flirting with in the pub, had they followed him home, snuck out for a midnight illicit affair with the lowly criminal chauffer?

Then he heard the scream.

Blood curdling, definitely feminine, and literally right outside his door. Someone of the female variety was in need of assistance and Sidney Carter was her guy!

Launching to his feet Sid staggered to the door of his camper, picked up a discarded beer bottle, and threw the door open. There was a girl alright. And holy hell was she fighting the two guys that had her in their arms. Or well… were trying to anyway.

One had her by the back, his arms wrapped around her chest and partially her neck while the other was trying to grab her feet probably to cart her off. The one with her feet was struggling because she kept kicking him, hard, the one on her neck was having problems because shew as literally trying to claw his eyes out and missing his eyes but gouging other pieces of his face. The guy behind her tightened his hold on her neck and Sid heard the gasp for air being cut off.

This was his time to shine. Sid practically leapt onto the back of the guy who was holding her feet. He dropped her immediately to try and get Sid to let go of his neck but Sid was squeezing too hard. It took a matter of seconds for the man underneath him to fall unconscious and when he did Sid found that the girl had gotten the other man off of her and was in the process of fending him off with an interesting looking boxing technique. Sind pulled her out of the way and knocking him as hard as he could with the bottle he still had in his hands and the guy went down.

Sid staggered back and let the silence sink in. But it wasn't all silence, there was the ragged breathing and whimpering that didn't belong to him. He turned to find the girl, the one he was going to save, laying in the grasp barely moving. He went to her immediately and pulled her up into his lap. She had this long, flowing raven hair and a pair of light green eyes, and the palest, smoothest skin he had ever seen and that's couldn't Lady Felicia. She was in a torn dress, he couldn't tell the pattern, but he could definitely tell that it didn't fit her anymore… it was too loose, and she was covered in bruises and cut marks. The most shocking of ones was the gash across her cheek that was highlighted by a gruesome purpling bruise.

She clung to the front of his shirt, she was shaking so hard he was worried she might go into a seizure. "Don't," she whispered to him and Sid's eyes narrowed in confusion. He wasn't sure what it was that she didn't want him to do. "Don't call the police, please…"

Now that surely was a strange request. Most women who were assaulted in the middle of the night by two men wanted the police called. Sid opened his mouth to tell her that surely he had to tell the police. He couldn't just leave these men in the field to wake up and try to attack them again but tears were in those vibrant green eyes and suddenly Sid couldn't talk anymore.

"Please don't, you can't, don't call them. Please. Please!" she begged before she suddenly slumped in his arms.

Sid sat there for a second holding her, letting her head rest on his chest right above his heart, cradling this strange woman in his arms. Really there was only one thing for it.

* * *

She awoke to a dazzling pain, a sort of burning in all her limbs and every inch of her skin. Light was streaming in from behind a curtain but she could feel it on her face as much as she could feel the arms around her. There was a steady rhythmic beating, a soft thrumming soothing the troubles in her mind. She lifted her head off of a broad chest and found herself in the arms of a stranger. Not surprising, not the first time that had happened, and it wasn't rare that the man she found herself with was attractive but this man in particular seemed to strike a chord in her. Maybe it was that tuftish brown hair sticking up in odd directions, or the way the stubble seemed to define his jaw line. He wasn't a rugged man, he kept himself well groomed by the looks of it. He was a lot softer looking then her usual type.

The terrors of the previous night came back to her full force and she tried to disentangle herself from his limbs and finding that the skirt of her dress was caught beneath his gangly legs. He shifted, realized she was moving and pulled her back down to his chest. He hushed her and stroked her hair in a soft way that she hadn't felt for at least nine years now. She found herself not resisting but melding into him, allowing this more different form of captivity and figuring that if it really were all that bad the sound of his heart in her ears the feeling of his chest moving up and down beneath her wouldn't be acting like a lullaby. In a few moments she was asleep again despite the burning pains in her limbs and the sun on her face.

* * *

Not only had Sid not turned up for work that day but the night before he had called in to Inspector Mallory that someone had attempted to attack him on his property. According to Lady Felicia two men had been carted away and were now in the jail cells. Neither were talking, other than to say that they had no interest in Sid, so it was a mystery as to why they were attacking him. Lady Felicia had also said that when Sid phones to say that he wasn't coming in he had sounded strangely distant and distracted but had insisted that he was fine.

So Father Brown, worried for his friend, was heading in a calm fashion towards Sid's camper. He was certain that if Sid was in any real danger he would have said so. He was also certain if it was a big an issue as Lady Felicia thought it was then Inspector Mallory would have found a way to arrest Sid for it.

Sid's camper looked quiet and it didn't look like a big ruckus had happened. The only thing that Father Brown could note was that grass of the moor had been trampled down at some point in the night, not by two people, but by three. He could see the lines in the grass each woven by a different person. There was no noise coming from the camper. Not completely unusual. If Sid were awake he'd be making some sort of noise but if he were sleeping it made sense for it to be quiet around here. Except Sid shouldn't have been asleep.

Father Brown knocked, three sharp raps on his door with the handle of his umbrella and waited. He heard the shuffling of movement inside the cabin, and a hushed whisper of "Just be quiet" before Sid opened the door.

He was wearing nothing but a white undershirt and his trousers from yesterday. Father Brown could see the stain of strawberry jam from Mrs. McCarthy's award winning strawberry scones, put on his pants when she snatched the scone out of Sid's hands before he could even manage to get a bite and a dollop of the jam fell on him. Despite the frantic scrubbing of Sid and Mrs. McCarthy together the stain would not come off. She had told him how to clean and it and when he seemed at a loss she demanded that he bring them to her the next morning and she would do it for him. Yet another reason for Father Brown to find an excuse to come see Sid.

Other than his dirty trousers, and the worried look on Sid's face, Sid seemed to be just fine. "Oh, hey there Father," he said quickly descending the small steps of the camper and onto the grass. He shook hands with Father Brown quickly. "What are you doing out here?"

Father Brown tried to glance past Sid's shoulder to into the shadowed camper. He had a feeling that Sid was hiding something or someone but Sid shifted and all view into the camper was blocked. "Well, I heard what happened last night. Frightful Business. Are you alright?"

Sid nodded. "Sure am Father, nothing to cause alarm."

"Do you know what they wanted? Why they chased you?" Father Brown asked him and for a minute Sid seemed confused.

"What do you mean?" he wondered.

"The moor, there are three distinct paths coming through there. Two for your assailants and one for you presumably. Unless there was a third attacker that got away. You would have told Inspector Mallory if there was a third wouldn't you?" Father Brown asked.

Sid shot a long glance over his shoulder to whatever was behind him in the camper. He thought long and hard for a minute before saying: "I don't know Father Brown, not going to lie I was pretty snockered last night. It's all a bit of a blur. Now I don't want to be rude but my head's killing me and I'd like to get back to sleep if that's alright with you Father."

He clapped a hand to Father Brown's back quickly before turning and ducking down his head to get back into the camper.

"Just one more thing Sid," Father Brown called. "If I don't bring those pants to Mrs. McCarthy she'll have my head and yours."

Sid looked down to his stained pants and then back into the shadows of his camper. Father Brown noted that Sid was particularly interested in the side of his camper that housed his bed. Clearly it was a someone that he was hiding from Father Brown. Maybe he had female company last night and didn't want to mention her in his police report to protect her reputation.

Sid quickly took his pants off and threw them at him. He stood there in his white under trousers and said: "Tell Mrs. M I say thanks." And then he shut the door.

Father Brown stood there for a bit before folding up the stained pants and going back to his bike. He waited to hear if there would be any more conversation to catch but after a few seconds of silence he realized that he wasn't going to get that lucky. But as he climbed up onto his bike he couldn't help but feeling that a mystery was unfolding right under his nose and that Sid was definitely hiding something other than his latest conquest from him.


	2. Chapter 2

Father Brown and the Baxter Twins

 **AvalonReeseOriginals**

 _A/N: Not seeing a lot of interest but here's chapter 2 none the less. Tell me what you think!_

Chapter 2: The Girl on the Run

* * *

It took a lot of convincing to keep the girl in his camper after she found out that Sid had called the police. She perfectly understood why he had done it, logically speaking the police needed to take those men away, but for some reason her logic followed that if the police had been called she needed to go too. He convinced her that she was in no state to go anywhere, not when she was in a dirty ripped up dress, half-starved and what looked to be badly beaten. She hadn't confirmed that she had been beaten but he could tell by the red marks on her wrists that she had at least been tied up most likely against her will looking at the state of her.

Sid had started by feeding her what he had. A fry up of eggs and chips, best he could make, and a pitcher of water. He wished he had tea for her but it would take a while to boil up water for that and he didn't have any tea leaves to put in the water anyways. She gobbled up as much as she could and then immediately hurled herself outside to throw up every last bite. Sid had waited for the sickness to pass, holding her hair out of the way and handing her water to sip from whenever she asked for it. When she was done, Sid lifted her up and carried her back into the camper. He made sure to let her pick of his plate, and he knew now that he wouldn't be able to trust her with her own food until she was better accustomed to eating again. He didn't even mind when she ended up eating more than half of what was on his plate. At least she managed to keep it down.

Afterward came the tempting part. Where she asked what payment he wanted from, told him flat out she had no money to offer him for his kindness and then stripped herself of her dress. It took all his will power to hand her one of his shirts and demand that she put it on. It helped that her chest and ribs were covered in the same purple like bruises that marred her face, he definitely didn't want their lovemaking to be painful… and maybe this was Father Brown's influence but he also wanted her to want to not because she felt like she had to or he was making her. She stated that she wasn't used to gentlemen, Sid assured her that he usually wasn't and if she didn't put his damn shirt on he'd change his mind.

The sight of her in his shirt was nearly as arousing as her with nothing on at all.

They had tucked in for the night, her swaddled in all his blankets while her head rested on his chest, they talked for a long while, or well… Sid talked. They exchanged names, he told her his full name, she gave him her nickname—Fina. He told her where he came from, all about his job and his aspirations, all he got out of her before she fell asleep again was that she was from London with a less then reputable job which was not prostitute (she clarified at Sid's eye wagging) and judging by the date she had been taken a week ago.

After she fell asleep Sid found himself unable to sleep, he thought about what she told him, about how she had been held but not about what had been done. He imagined her torment and found himself angry, wishing he had done more to the two men he had beaten the night before. Too soothe himself his fingers twitched in the night. He twirled her knotted hair, leisurely dragged his fingertips over the smoothness of her skin finding the soft sensitive parts that made her lips twitch and felt all the bumps of her spine from her neck to her lower back. She wasn't half starved, she was completely starved. At some point he fell asleep too and when he awoke he was late to be at Lady Felicia's.

He rushed around his camper getting his uniform on before he realized that he didn't have time to make anything for the girl. He turned to find her sitting up in his bed, blankets covering her bare legs, his shirt dwarfing her small form, her shoulder exposed as it hung off of her.

"I got to go to work," he said to her and in an almost frantic tone he added: "You'll stay here won't you?"

Fina stared at him, she uttered not a single committal word but seemed to just drink in him in his green pants, his knee high hessians and his white undershirt. He had yet to tug on his jacket so he was fingering his plain red suspenders. When she didn't answer him he continued.

"I won't be that long, I'll be back for dinner obviously. I'll bring you something good, something better then fry up," he said. Still she said nothing. "And a dress, I can get you a dress, a good dress, one that will fit you. And shoes, any kind you want."

He wondered if she'd care that he'd have to steal her a dress and shoes, he figured that if it didn't come up he wouldn't have to tell her. The less she knew about his illicit activities the better. She seemed to think a long while, enough time for Sid to get his jacket on and do up all his onyx buttons.

"Alright," she whispered. "I'll stay."

Sid leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Thatta girl," he crowed. "Try to sleep, that will help, maybe think about letting me take you to a doctor. Looks like you got in a fight with a bull."

She lowered her eyes and whispered something that might have been "I'll think about it" but Sid was already heading for the door. He got one last look of her in his bed, rearranging his two pillows in a pile and found himself smiling. He realized then and there that he would do anything, even walk on that righteous path Father Brown was so proud of, if he could always have her in his bed every morning from then on in.

* * *

Sergeant Goodfellow went into Inspector Mallory's office. The prisoners would be let out soon, that afternoon since they didn't really have anything to charge them with. He was concerned though, since over hearing their conversation.

They had been arguing about calling the Boss. He didn't know who _the Boss_ was, but they were looking for a girl and they figured that the girl was still in the camper if she hadn't run off by now. There was also talk about whether or not the girl got a hold of her brother, but how would she have in the middle of the woods. They argued about whether or not they should admit to their boss that they had failed and instead wait to call him once they were certain the girl wasn't in that camper with the stupid git that attacked them.

Sergeant Goodfellow was concerned because they were more interested in a woman than Sidney Carter and Sidney hadn't mentioned a girl to them when they went out to collect the men the night before. Women was something that Sidney Carter had an avid interest in and Sergeant Goodfellow was more than certain that he would have mentioned if he saw a woman.

"So why didn't he then?" Mallory asked when Goodfellow brought forth his concerns.

"Maybe he didn't see her?" Goodfellow wondered. Because even if that was the most likely case shouldn't they be out looking for a girl that these men were holding captive? She would need assistance would she not?

"A likely story. He probably has her in his camper doing all sorts of unspeakable things to her," Mallory said getting to his feet and grabbing his hat. "We better go and rescue the girl."

Personally, Goodfellow was under the impression that Sidney Carter would do no such thing to a damsel in distress but he went with Mallory anyway as that was his job and he wanted to at least see if he could help the girl if need be.

* * *

Sid had been caught with Lady Felicia's dresses. He had been pulling them out of her wardrobe and holding them out trying to see if any would fit his Fina and even though he knew they would he wanted one that would suit her. She was currently wearing a floral looking dress that had lost its pattern but was in a faded brown colour. Did nothing for her beauty. He thought she'd look good in a green.

Once he was caught Sid had to tell her that he was looking to possibly buy a dress for a lady friend. Lady Felicia had winked at him, told him to take the girl dress shopping first as men were never very good at picking out clothes for women and then for the rest of the day interrogated him intensely in varying intervals about the girl he was seeing. Sid told her very little because he himself knew very little and he was a little worried that the girl might not be there when he got back that night.

They were stopping by to see Father Brown at the church. He had just parked the car when he heard the wail of the sirens. He got out of the car to watch the cop car pull up behind his and then Mallory was out and shouting at him.

"Where's the girl Carter?"

Sidney's blood ran cold. How had they found out about her? "What?" he asked feigning what he hoped was innocent confusion but he had a feeling he was showing just how angry and worried he was.

"We've been up at your place and she isn't there, where you hiding her?" Mallory nearly screamed as he advanced on Sidney. Lady Felicia was at Sid's side most likely ready to yell at Mallory if he tried to arrest him and he was very grateful for the support. But still Sid was terrified, if they had been to his camper and Fina wasn't there where had she gone? Why the hell were they even looking for her in the first place?

"What are you talking about?" Sid snarled, even though he knew what he was talking about he was just angry that they scared her off. Worried about how he was going to find her again. Worried that he wouldn't be able to.

"The men we apprehended two nights ago were chasing a girl. Where is she?" Mallory asked.

Sid sniffed to show his disinterest before saying: "I didn't see a girl, now did I? Think I would have mentioned a girl that night if I knew that was what they were after."

Mallory glared at him. "And the dress we found in your place?" he asked with a cocky tone.

Fuck. She hadn't been wearing the dress. That meant Fina was out there in just his shirt. He needed to find her fast before some less than respectable man found her first.

"Sid has a girlfriend, it was probably hers," Lady Felicia spoke up when Sid failed to respond fast enough.

"Ripped up and dirty?" Mallory shot back.

"We like it rough… and in the woods," Sid growled. It wasn't true of course but that lie would do. He found his cheeks reddening unhappy that he was already besmirching her good name even if it was to protect her.

Mallory sized him up and down carefully, obviously uncomfortable commenting on Sid's last statement, his eyes shifting to Lady Felicia before saying: "Stay where we can find you."

Sid watched his retreating back. He called out: "And you better have put everything back just the way you found it!" and was luckily ignored.

Lady Felicia was nice enough to wait for Inspector Mallory to get in his car before turning on Sid. "You better tell me what's going on."

Sid wanted to tell her everything, he wanted to tell her that he needed to go to search for a girl wearing only a dress shirt wandering around the woods and most of all he wanted to tell her that this was not as bad as it looks. But he was interrupted by a sudden cry from the church followed by an insistent calling for Father Brown.

Both Sid and Lady Felicia went running to the source and found Mrs. McCarthy in the church beside a pew. She pointed to something and said to them: "Look! A half-naked girl!"

Sid surged forward and found it was his Fina, still in his dress shirt, dirt on her bare feet, lying there on the uncomfortable wood of the pew.

"Fina!" he cried as he pushed Mrs. McCarthy out of the way. He dropped to his knees unbuttoning his jacket so he could cover her. Her skin was covered in gooseflesh and very luckily she was breathing as clearly just fast asleep.

"Well I never!" Mrs. McCarthy gasped in outrage. "You think he'd have the nerve to at least dress the girl before taking her out of the house."

Sid shot her a glare over his shoulder. "I didn't take her out of the house like this, she ran from the police," he told her. Might as well tell the truth at this point. He stripped off his jacket and put it over her bare legs to cover her modesty a little bit, not for his benefit, and not even for hers, just to shut Mrs. McCarthy up. Okay, and maybe it was because Fina was cold and he wanted to keep her warm.

Mrs. McCarthy gasped again in shock and Lady Felicia leaned over the back of the pew to get a better look at her. "Is this the girl Sid? The mysterious girlfriend?" she asked. "No wonder you need a dress for her. Just look at the state of her!"

"It's not her fault that she got kidnapped!" he argued defensively as he pet her head softly. He was just so happy he found her and frustrated that everyone was there to witness this, to think the worst of her.

Father Brown finally made his appearance and stared down at her. "I had a feeling they were after more than a fight with you. Why didn't you tell the Inspector about her?"

"She begged me not to, alright," he snapped. "She's got a natural distrust for them and I sympathized."

The girl groggily opened her eyes and smiled sleepily at him. "You found me," she whispered. She reached a hand out to trace her fingertips against his jawline and Sid found himself beaming in sheer happiness that she wanted him to find her.

"Child whatever were you thinking going out in just a shirt?" Mrs. McCarthy said fairly pushing Sid out of the way to talk to her. "You're going to catch your death, or worse give some poor man the wrong idea. Like Sid here, can't trust him with a half-naked girl!"

If Sid could he would have smacked Mrs. McCarthy, instead he cried out: "OI!" in the most insulted tone he could muster. Fina had swung her legs off the pew to sit up, one hand went to his shoulder, gripping the thin fabric of his undershirt with her slim fingers, and the other hand went to her neck to close the fabric of his shirt that was baring her neck and some of her chest. Her eyes whipped from each of the new faces around her, those green eyes wide with worry and distrust.

Lady Felicia said. "Come on Sid, let's go back to my place and see if we can't find her something suitable to wear."

Sid wanted to argue, he wanted to tell Lady F that he wasn't going anywhere, and definitely not leaving her alone with Father Brown's questions and Mrs. McCarthy's righteous outrage. Fina's grip on him tightened, her eyes said _don't leave_ , but Sid also knew that Lady F couldn't be trusted driving the Rolls. And none of them would leave this half-naked girl alone in Sid's care for any longer in fear of her reputation being damaged further. He knew that Father Brown and Mrs. McCarthy would take care of her much better than he ever could, even if he wanted nothing more than to take her back to his camper and have her curl up beside him.

"You'll be alright," he said. "Father Brown and Mrs. McCarthy, they'll take care of you. Mrs. McCarthy will probably feed you and Father Brown will try to save your soul."

"And I'm Lady Felicia. I'll be your beautician," she said to Fina, patting her shoulder with her gloved hand. "We'll have you right as rain in no time."

"We will have to call the Inspector, of course," Father Brown said and suddenly Fina was trying to stand.

"No, no, no, no, no cops. No cops," she said. Sid had to take a hold of her wrists and tug her back down into her seat.

"Not right now of course, but at some point. He is looking for you after all," Father Brown tried to soothe. Sid wished that he'd just shut up about the police.

"I need to leave. I need to get back to London," she said, her tone flat and emotionless. Sid felt his heart stop at the thought of her leaving. She couldn't leave him. She just couldn't. Not yet.

"How about we have a spot of tea, get some food in her and then we talk about calling the police," Mrs. McCarthy. "She's had enough stress in her life as of late, she doesn't need us adding anymore."

Sid squeezed Fina's wrists and got her eyes back on him. "Don't you worry, alright?" he whispered to her. "I'll be back, I'll make sure they don't do anything stupid, okay?"

She stared at him blankly before quickly darting out to grab his neck and pull him into a hug. She pressed him to her, her thighs open for him to in between them as she held him softly to her quivering form. He could hear Mrs. McCarthy whispering about the impropriety of it all but Sid couldn't have cared less, he held her back running his hands up and down her back to put some warmth back in her. "Come back quick," she whispered into his ear before letting him go.

Sid was nothing but smiles.


	3. Chapter 3

Father Brown and the Baxter Twins

 **AvalonReeseFanFics**

 _A/N: Here the next bit, with a surprise twist and a bit of a heartbreak. Anyone interested to find out what happens next?_

Chapter 3: The Girl in the Church

* * *

"You do realize what this reminds me of?" Mrs. McCarthy hissed to Father Brown.

Sid's Mystery Girl was sitting at their table, dwarfed into one of Father Brown's spare house coats to cover her legs, a pair of overly large fuzzy slipped donned her now scrubbed clean and socked feet. Mrs. McCarthy had put her straight into a bath, being certain to take Sid's shirt and put it far away from the girl as if it could contaminate her. She was now sipping politely on a cup of tea that Mrs. McCarthy had pushed on her and nibbling on a piece of toast as promised. Father Brown and Mrs. McCarthy were standing in the hallway whispering quite rudely about her as if she probably couldn't hear them.

And for the record he did know what this reminded her of.

"This is just like when Mary came to us. Spitting image of her too, do you think… that maybe?" Mrs. McCarthy continued.

Father Brown shrugged. About nine years ago a thirteen-year-old girl had appeared on the church doorstep, muddy and in an obvious state of shock, she had just stood there and asked to come in. She barely said anything, wouldn't tell them her name, or where she had came from but she seemed to be in mourning, of what she wouldn't say. Mrs. McCarthy had taken her in, cared for her, clothed her and given her the name Mary and the girl seemed to flourish. She got stronger, happier and then one day, about five months after she had appeared in the village she vanished.

Mrs. McCarthy was obviously very distressed by this, and there was a wide country-side search for her but nothing was found the child had just up and disappeared off the face of the earth.

"I for some reason doubt that this is Mary," Father Brown said. "Similarities or not, I feel that if Mary were to return she would have told us it was her."

This wasn't entirely true. Father Brown didn't believe in coincidences. And it was awfully strange that a woman that kind of looked like Mary had appeared in town and in the church much like Mary had nine years before.

The door opened and Lady Felicia glided in, Sid came in afterwards his arms laden down with boxes and bags that Lady Felicia had made him bring. The girl turned immediately and smiled at Sid, obviously happy that he had returned. He carefully placed everything Lady F had made him bring down by her feet, their eyes locked and unmoving as he did so. She handed him her plate with the rest of her toast on it and Sid shook it off.

"No, no, you need it more than I do," he said. But when she didn't lower the offer he took it from her and the two of them dug into their toast pieces in earnest.

Lady Felicia took her face in her hands and force Fina to look away from Sid and into her eyes. She stared into her eyes for a short while before Fina ripped her face out of her grip and lowered it to her cup of tea. Lady Felicia cleared her throat and said: "Yes, green will look lovely on you, and we'll do something about covering that nasty bruise." She began to dig through the bags and came back with an emerald green day dress with an ankle length skirt and empire waist. "You go try this on, and see if Mrs. McCarthy needs to take it in."

The girl smiled a polite smile of thanks and took the package gingerly as if she were afraid the dress would shatter in her hands. She got up, being sure to shoot one last glace at Sid who nodded her off before disappearing.

As Lady Felicia walked back towards Sid she bumped his hip with hers. "Well she certainly is taken with you, isn't she Sidney?" she whispered in a teasingly tone. Sid lowered his eyes and had the decency to blush.

"Goodness knows why, a girl like that could do much better," Mrs. McCarthy declared with a huff.

"Come now, Mrs. M," Lady Felicia chided. "Sid is quite the catch, he just needs the right girl to reform him."

"Nothing could reform him," Mrs. McCarthy snapped. "Heathen to the very core."

Sid said nothing but seemed to be patiently waiting for the girl to return. He leaned against the counter with his arms folded over his chest pointedly ignoring the conversation going on around him. Lady Felicia continued. "Sid says that the name she gave him was Fina. That she's from London, and that she had been kidnapped a week ago and held captive by the brutes who are currently locked up."

"That's it," Mrs. McCarthy cried. "I'm phoning the police."

Sid turned to her a dark glare on his face. "Don't do that, it'll just scare her off!" he argued but he was ignored. Luckily she was paused from doing anything too rash as Fina returned from upstairs in that stunning green dress with a skirt that fell by her ankles and an empire waist that should have cinched her but it was hanging off of her as it was too big. She had a smile on her face but once again her lowered eyes were only on Sid.

"Now doesn't she look lovely," Father Brown said.

Sid had straightened and was smiling widely at her. "Like a picture," he said. "Come on then, give us a twirl."

Fina smiled just as widely and obliged him and mid turn Sid reached out to grab her waist and pull her to him. Her hands flattened against his chest and she stared up at him with an unwavering gaze as he smiled down at her.

"Well the shoes could be better, but yes, she does clean up nicely," Lady Felicia conceded, frowning down to the slippers Fina was still wearing.

Problem was Sid and Fina were staring at each other and seemingly ignoring the world around them. Mrs. McCarthy rolled her eyes. "That's it," she said as she started over, she fairly pulled Fina off of Sid and forced her back down into the chair. "That's enough of that improper behaviour young lady!"

Fina frowned up at her but made no attempt to argue with her. She slouched back into her chair in a very unladylike way and picked up her teacup. Father Brown thought she said something like: "Some things never change," but he wasn't certain as she was mumbling into her tea at that point. Still an strange thing to say none the less.

Lady Felicia smiled and went over to Fina. "Come now, dear, let's see what I can do about that bruise for you?" she said, offering her hand to help her out. "And maybe we'll do something with your hair. Maybe a hair cut."

Fina stared at her with narrowed eyes, she pointed a slim finger at Lady Felicia. "If you try to come at me with scissors I'll cut your fecking nose off!" she warned.

It was the most she had said to them since Sid had left. And now that they could hear her voice they could hear the London accent and the roughened words of the threat spoke volumes of where her place in London had been. And while everyone else was in shock, Sid was just laughing.

* * *

Sid waited patiently for Fina to come back downstairs. Mrs. McCarthy had gone off to some unknown place in the presbytery which was great for Sid since she hadn't stopped gripping about him with Fina. For some reason Mrs. McCarthy didn't like the idea of a girl like Fina with a guy like him and while he didn't like that she took issue with any sort of courtship between them, he sort of understood. Just putting that dress on the girl made her into a lady, with the mouth of a sailor. Still a genteel lady like that, from London no doubt, would want nothing to do with a rogue thief like him. Not permanently. He was the type they'd have sordid affairs with for entertainment purposes. They didn't fall in love with men like him, lest of all marry them.

Sid shook his head again. No. This was not a road he was going to go down again. Not after the Brewer's girl had played him for an alibi. Don't get emotionally attached he had said. Just have his fun and be done with it, let the girl leave.

But then Fina came down the stairs and all of that was forgotten. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad being attached to this girl. Her face full of make up covered her up bruise, lightened up her eyes and colored her lips. Her hair was pulled back in a braid, but loosely done and still framing her face. Those light green eyes were on him, were only ever on him. They locked eyes once again and he felt that crackling of raw energy between them, a passion waiting to be ignited. So strong it was almost suffocating him.

Lady F was smiling. "What do you think?" she asked.

"Very well done," Father Brown congratulated.

Still Fina's eyes were only on Sid. She took a few steps closer to him just in reaching range and he couldn't stop himself from grabbing onto her. It took one soft tug and she was back in his arms where he felt like she belonged. One hand firmly set around her waist, he raised his other hand to her cheek and brushed his knuckles lightly over where he knew the bruise was. She flinched a little when his fingers met the spot but she didn't move away from him, she seemed to completely trust that he wouldn't hurt her. No one had ever trusted him that completely other then Father Brown and even that was faltering at some times.

"Oh for the love of all that is Holy!" Mrs. McCarthy cried coming into the room. "Can't leave them for more than two minutes can we? Sidney Carter let that young girl go or I will box your ears!"

Fina had turned around and Sid put his hands to Fina's shoulders. "If she doesn't want to move I'm not going to make her," he said carefully. Fina crossed her arms over her chest and shot Mrs. McCarthy a smug grin. And then the wail of a siren broke into the silence of that triumphant moment.

Fina straightened considerably. Sid's grip on her tightened. All eyes turned to Mrs. McCarthy with either shock or outrage on their faces. "What have you done?" Sid hissed.

"Well someone had to call them! After what happened to her those men can't possibly go free!" she argued.

Fina tried to dart out of Sidney's grip but he wouldn't let her. He lowered his head until his mouth was beside her ear. "It's not exactly desirable and I understand. But there's no point in running now. I'll stay with you; we'll all stay with you."

Someone knocked on the door and Fina rolled her eyes. "Well bollocks!" she cried.

Mallory had let himself in at that point he stared at everyone standing in the drawing room. "Father Brown. Like a bad penny. Should I be surprised that you found her first?" he asked. Then he pointedly stared at Sid who had not removed his hands from her shoulder. "And you said you didn't see any girl!"

Fina sighed. "Look, are going to just stand there and spit out stupid accusations or are you going to attempt to ask me questions? Honestly I'd rather not and if you don't think I won't be able to flip this lanky beanpole off of me and jump out of that window before any of you lot can catch me than you're under estimating me," she warned.

Silence met that comment and then everyone was staring at Fina who was glaring Mallory and Goodfellow down. Sidney was looking down at her with concern on his face, now that was one unflattering comment. Lanky beanpole, is that what she thought of him? Of course, a pretty girl like that wouldn't find some rough and tumble chauffer attractive. And he was slightly worried that she could and would flip him and then jump out of the window and vanish. Slowly he lowered his hands and took a small step away from her, causing her to turn around and blink up at him with those wide green eyes as if she didn't understand what was wrong.

"Ah… yes… I suppose that we should sit down and get this started," he said but Fina just rolled her eyes at him as if to say that was an extremely stupid question. "Would everyone please leave the room."

"No. They stay or I jump out that window and there's no special commendations for you," she warned.

Mallory sighed and they found themselves sitting down at the table with Mrs. McCarthy setting tea out for everyone. "Let's start with your name," Mallory said.

"Fina," she said quickly to which Mallory just stared at her. Fina sighed and rolled her eyes again looking about at all the faces, her eyes sticking to Sid who was no longer smiling at her beautiful face but instead looking away whenever he could. He couldn't bear to look at her when she struck such a chord in him but he apparently did nothing for her, so logically he sat himself directly across the table from her. Don't get attached he had said. Good thing he had caught that quick.

"Do I have to give my full name?" she asked him. "I'm afraid that's when you lot start forgetting I'm a victim and start asking me all sorts of inappropriate questions that never have anything to do with whatever's at hand and more to boost your standing in the police force."

Mallory pinned her with a dry glare and Fina sighed once more. "Fine," she snapped. "My full name is Seraphina Baxter."

Silence descended. Mrs. McCarthy, Father Brown and Lady Felicia were exchanging confused glances. But Sidney's head had whipped up and he was now staring at Fina with surprise on his face, and a bit of mild horror. She shot him a glance, caught the look and then lowered her eyes to her hands in her lap which she was twisting about in a nervous fashion.

Mallory cleared his throat. "Any relation to Finley Baxter? The Notorious Dock Lord of London?" he asked.

Seraphina looked up to him, a look of grim determination on her face. She swallowed carefully before answering. "Yes. He's my twin brother."


	4. Chapter 4

Father Brown and the Baxter Twins

 **AvalonReeseFanFics**

 _A/N: My views are going up so hey, at least people are reading! If you're reading send me a review, tell me what you think! I went for fluff this chapter, lots of cute stuff and a lot more explaining. Enjoy the next chapter_

Chapter 4: The Boy who was Naughty (unedited)

* * *

"I suspect you should call Inspector Valentine. I've been gone a week now; Finley can't have taken that well. The Dock's are probably littered with corpses," Seraphina said with a shaky laugh. "My brother always did have a temper."

"Inspector Valentine?" Father Brown echoed.

Seraphina nodded. "He's the Inspector in charge of all the Baxter files, on me and my brother. Not the smartest man but even he must have realized I'm gone by now. Someone would have told him."

Father Brown smirked but didn't say anything. Probably because they were all thinking it. Inspector Valentine hadn't been that smart when he was in Kembleford yelling at Father Brown for solving his murders. And then conveniently taking all the credit.

Mallory tapped his pen on the tabletop and got her attention once more. "So let's go back shall we?" he asked. "You are related to Finley Baxter, one of the most notorious criminals?"

Seraphina rolled her eyes. "Oh here we go," she snarled. "Yes, I'm his sister. And yes he is a very well known and dangerous criminal."

Mallory opened his mouth probably to ask more stupid questions but Seraphina stopped him. "No more stupid questions. No, I don't usually know what Finley's up to on a regular basis, no I don't know where he's hidden any of the things he's stolen, nor do I know about any past, present, or future bodies or crimes. I can't tell you where he hides his money, I barely know who works for him and I won't be telling you about the few that I do. I do not work for him in a criminal capacity, or at least not that I'm aware of. Usually I just take messages for him and relay them. No I don't know what they mean, they're all coded and I don't know the code. Now. Can we get on to what happened to me?"

Mallory opened his mouth once again, probably to ask her what it was that happened to her but once again Fina beat him too it. "I was out for a drink, yes I was alone. Yes, I was looking for company. Yes, I found company," she said glancing over to Sid as she said so. Something in his stomach turned and he quickly got up and walked away from the table to lean on the window sill and look out the window. He didn't want to think about any other man who put his hands on her.

"Yes, that company knocked me out and I guess took me out here. That was on Saturday night, so judging by the date a week ago. I recognize now that the two men who held me in that hole and did… well… some pretty stupid and painful things to me were Anthony St. Clair's men. He's a new man on the docks, he's got a little corner under his thumb and is striving for a little more. Wants to take Finley on, I guess taking me was meant to either scare him or maybe use me as ransom for money or more control of the docks," she explained.

Mallory had leant in. "Do you think it worked?"

"Neither Finley or I respond well to threats of this kind. Besides, it's well known that Finley has a temper. An eye for an eye. So let's hope Anthony St. Clair doesn't have a sister or her head might be in his bed by morning," she said with a shallow laugh. She caught the Inspectors stare and she sighed again. "I'm not saying he's done it and I don't know of any confirmed head severing's, I'm just saying that from what's been published of him—and not proven mind you—it sounds like something he would do."

Mallory took all of this in. "Yes, well… I think we should hear about these things that they did to you so I can charge them correctly," he said.

"Is kidnapping and hostage holding not enough?" she asked, but Mallory just eyed here with a look that clearly told her no.

Seraphina opened her mouth to tell him, Sid could see it in the reflection in window. The thought of having to hear it, hear what was actually done to her in detail was too excruciating, hell it was painful just to look at her and know that she only saw him as some lanky beanpole. He forcefully pushed himself away from the window and stormed away, being sure to mumble "I'll be with the car," to Lady F as he went.

He was painful aware that Seraphina's eyes were on him as he moved, he could feel them burning into his skin as he left.

* * *

Mallory left not long after he got Seraphina's full statement. Father Brown had commended her for being so brave in the face of such terror. Seraphina had merely stated that she had lived in the slums of London all her life and that was nothing and then she asked to use the phone.

Father Brown hadn't wanted to listen in on the conversation but when she opened with "Yes Daniel, I'm alive," he couldn't help but listen to the rest.

It was a standard conversation. But she made no mention for him to tell Finley that she was alright, she merely asked about someone named Sarah, told him to check on her house and that she wasn't sure when she would be coming back London. He found it strange that she made no mention of Finley and getting a message to him that she was alright. In fact, he found it strange that she would not call Finley herself.

Maybe he didn't have a phone, but surely she would have a way to communicate with her brother in case of such emergencies?

Father Brown heard a sudden crash and turned to see that Sidney had kicked the presbytery garbage can over and it looked like he and Lady Felicia were in a very heated discussion. Seraphina appeared beside Father Brown and looked out the window with him, shoulder to shoulder. She said nothing as they took in the conversation between them, Sidney's wild gestures to the house and then to his own body and Lady Felicia's stern glare.

Father Brown turned to her. "Is everything alright in London?" he wondered.

"Quite. The message will get to Finley that I'm alright. Hopefully he hasn't done anything too rash. And I heard Anthony St. Clair has left London for a vacation in the country side," she replied.

Father Brown tried to hide his alarm. "You don't think he's coming here?"

Seraphina had a cool look about her as she turned back to him and said with a deadly cold in those suddenly hardened green eyes: "If he is, he'll have a nasty surprise waiting for him."

Father Brown was suddenly worried about the capacity for evil he saw hidden in the eyes of this girl. He wanted to ask her what surprise could be waiting for a criminal. And if this criminal was coming here for her, wouldn't Mallory need to know? But Mrs. McCarthy was there, hat on and ready to go.

"Come dear, you'll be lodging with me until you're ready to go back to the city," she said.

Seraphina blinked her eyes. "But… I thought I'd just be staying with Sidney…"

"With that man? For another night? Girl, I won't let you be that stupid! It's just not proper!" she cried, and then grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the house.

Father Brown watched from the window as Seraphina allowed Mrs. McCarthy to drag her down the drive, not fighting her, only escaping her grip once to go to Sidney. It looked like she was telling him what Mrs. McCarthy was doing. She put a hand to his chest and for a brief moment Father Brown saw something in Sidney he had never seen before. Whatever it was he brushed it off quickly along with her hand, and then Seraphina seemed awfully hurt by whatever Sidney was saying. The next thing he knew Mrs. McCarthy was pulling her away and Father Brown guessed that Sidney had been very vocal about being happy to have the girl out of his camper.

Once Seraphina and Mrs. McCarthy were out of sight Sid's angry demeanour faded and Lady Felicia hit Sidney square in the chest with her hand bag. Father Brown sighed and shook his head; he recognized the look on both their faces. Lady Felicia was very angry and very disappointed, but Sidney was wearing the look of a lovesick calf. Why Sid had let her go if he was going to be miserable without her? Father Brown could already guess the answer and while it delighted him to think that Sidney had acted chivalrously and that might find someone to love and love him back in return he couldn't help but feel like maybe this was a little too reminiscent of that Brewer's girl.

* * *

 _She's not a proper lady._

Sidney kept repeating that mantra in his head as he walked towards Mrs. McCarthy's house. Seraphina wasn't a pure woman like he had originally thought her to be, he had learned that from her own admission. Others had been with her and others would probably be with her. So why shouldn't he be one of them?

That afternoon she had told him that she didn't want to go with Mrs. M, had said she'd rather stay with him, and he would have gladly kicked Mrs. McCarthy to the curb to have her had he not been so angry. Instead he had sent her packing. He had done it for both of them. To protect her from his reputation and to protect himself from falling for her.

So why was he sneaking into Mrs. McCarthy's back yard just a couple minutes after midnight? Because she asked him to. Right before she left with Mrs. McCarthy she had shot him one last desperate look and mouthed to him to come at midnight. He hadn't answered her and she hadn't looked for an answer but he knew he would be there, and she probably knew it too. He hopped over the fence being careful not to damage any of Mrs. McCarthy's flowers. He could already see which window was Seraphina's and luckily she was given the room just under the trellis. The guest room. Chosen specifically because it was under the roses so the room would always be the most fragrant in the house. It was also the only room with a light on.

Sidney scaled the trellis with ease and before he even got to knock at her window Seraphina was there. She was in nothing but a nightgown, one of those lacy silky things from Lady Felicia's closet. Once Mrs. McCarthy got some more food into her Seraphina would fill that nightgown in nicely, but at the moment it was hanging off of her. And she still looked completely ravishing. She smiled at him with a smile that said she was all his, he could take anything he wanted from her at this point and boy was he longing to take whatever he could. She fairly tugged him into the room and Sidney had to stifle a yelp that would have woken up Mrs. M.

"I heard you climbing over the fence," she whispered to him. "You really need to work on your stealth."

Sidney would have said something to her about how offended he was but as soon as he was fully through her window and standing in her borrowed room she threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips fully to his. She was tall for a girl, the top of her head just reached his chin and he was 6 feet 3inches. She fit nicely to him though but he didn't say that to her. He hungrily kissed her back, clutching her to his chest he felt every inch of her against him every bit of her molded to him like she was made to fit there.

They kissed, his lips teased hers, he moved to her neck, hoisting her up on tippy-toe to get to her and he found that she purred in this delectable way when he hit those soft spots he found that second night he held her. Her lips naturally found his soft spots too with an instinct that surprised him, as if she had already known where to go. He back them towards the bed and when Seraphina felt the comforter against her leg she pulled him down on top of her and as they landed, with Sidney in between her legs, a soft cry of pain escaped Seraphina's lips.

Sidney pushed his weight off her immediately and looked down at her. She looked so lovely with her hair splayed out behind her head, with her pale cheeks flushed a rosy colour. Those light green eyes sparkling at him as if he were the only man in her world. But she was still grimacing in pain.

Sidney moved his hand away from her side. "Are you okay?" he asked in the merest of whispers.

She nodded and reached a hand out to stroke the stubble coming in along his jawline. "Yes, it's just… well… Mrs. McCarthy thinks a rib might be broken, the doctor couldn't come out to see me today but will be coming by tomorrow for a check up," she told him. That husky low whisper that came out of her mouth worked in the exact opposite way that he wanted.

He tried to repeat the mantra in his head. She wasn't a proper lady, she probably liked it a little rough, a little pain wouldn't have stopped her before, but Sidney couldn't find it in him to go any further. She moved to kiss him again and Sidney ducked her and slid off of her. There was a look of hurt on her face as he settled himself beside her, being sure to keep his arms around her.

He knew what she was going to ask before she asked it. "Not if you're hurting," he whispered. "I don't want to make it worse."

Seraphina didn't seem to like that answer, she frowned up at him, concern alight in her eyes but Sidney ignored it. She pushed away from him, getting up only to turn off the lights. "Are you going to stay?" she asked him.

He should have said no, but he was already taking his boots off. His jacket and shirt followed but to remind himself that he had no intentions of sleeping with her he kept his pants on. She unmade the bed as he undressed himself and was already curled up under the blankets when he lay himself down. She arranged blankets around them in a soft and tender way before placing her head over his heart and sighing in the most content way.

"You know, you keep saying you're not a gentleman but you haven't shown me otherwise," she whispered to him, she had a finger playing the a bit of the chest hair that was visible, the sensation causing a sort of tingling in him that made his leg twitch a bit.

"I'm really not," he whispered to her before putting an arm around her, draping it over her shoulder and loosely curling a few strands of her long ebony hard around his fingers. He was holding back his own content sigh, one he didn't want her to hear. Her breaths evened out almost immediately and Sidney pressed a small kiss to the top of her head. He could feel the attachment to her growing in him like the ivy climbing the trellis outside her window, he tried to stamp it down, but as he drifted to sleep a few more tendrils snaked a claim in his heart.

* * *

Mrs. McCarthy had let the poor girl sleep in. She busied herself with making scones and tea for the doctor who was visiting and a hearty breakfast for Seraphina when she woke up, but she wanted Seraphina to be alert and ready for when the doctor came and that would be in an hour. So Mrs. McCarthy walked up the steps to the guest room, in her mind she figured it would go as well as waking up any child, they wouldn't want to without the right incentive.

She didn't bother to knock. It was her house after all, she threw the door open ready to tell the girl to rise and shine and was stopped in her tracks by the sight in front of her. Seraphina lay on one side, the side with the all the bruises, and lying next to her, spooning her, was Sidney. His arms cozily around her waist, holding her to him the two of them fast asleep. She could see his shoes, his shirt and jacket, discarded on the floor by her bed but no sign of his pants.

It dawned on her that maybe Sidney's pants were still on and by god was that a miracle. She quickly scampered across the room and picked up Sidney's discarded things, before leaning over the bed and grabbing the man by the ear.

"Sidney Carter! You're the devil you are!" she cried while Sidney yelped in pain and shock as she forcibly pulled him out of the bed. "I don't know who you think you are, but if you think I will have this unholy union in my house… that you can have premarital relations under my roof you have another thing coming!"

Seraphina had propped herself up on her arm to watch sleepily as Mrs. McCarthy dragged the yelping Sidney. She smiled softly and waved at him. "Bye Sidney!" she cried before flopping back down on the bed. "Thank you for coming!"

"Oi! Fina!" he cried as if he expected her to come to his rescue but the girl had seemingly gone back to sleep.

"And you best be out of bed by the time I get back, you need to have a big breakfast before the doctor comes and you best not think you'll escape a lecture just because the doctor's coming round!" Mrs. McCarthy warned and the girl just groaned into her pillow.

That mixed with Sidney's hisses and yelps of pain were music to Mrs. McCarthy's ears. She'd teach these two heathens propriety yet!


	5. Chapter 5

Father Brown and the Baxter Twins

 **AvalonReeseFanfics**

 _A/N: So here we are, chapter 5, here things starting to get heated up. Plus lots of Seraphina x Sidney fluff. Hopefully it's cute. Again, if you like it don't forget to tell me!_

Chapter 5: The Man with the Threats.

* * *

After that morning, when the doctor had confirmed that Seraphina had not one but three cracked ribs Mrs. McCarthy became the most vicious of guard dogs. For the rest of the week she hovered over Seraphina, and made sure that all doors and windows were locked before going to bed. She did random spot checks in the middle of the night to make sure that Sidney had not snuck back in and to his credit Sidney never tried again. Even though he so desperately wanted to and Seraphina kept asking him to.

Due to Lady F taking a great interest in Seraphina Sidney spent a lot of time in Mrs. McCarthy's house trying to ignore and avoid all of Seraphina's hints. She kept flirting with him, and teasing him and touching him in soft strokes and generally setting him on fire with a mere bat of her eyelids, but he had not caved to her. No matter how much he wanted to. It didn't help that with every day she put a little bit more of that natural weight back on, so she filled out into the voluptuous vixen and she grew stronger each and every day. Soon he wouldn't be able to fight her off without using due force.

He wanted to avoid her, but when it came down to it he wanted to see her more. He wanted her to flirt with him, to want him, he wanted to see her, laugh with her and kiss her when the others weren't looking. He'd lie awake at night wishing her could feel her weight on his chest, have his arm around her shoulder, and feel her hair in his nose. He lived for when he saw her again, seeing her immediately lightened up his mood and his day. It wasn't until he reminded himself that he shouldn't be getting attached to her, that she thought of him as nothing more than a lanky beanpole, a comfortable pillow and a spot of fun, that his mood would darken and he'd do or say something awful to push her away.

The fact that there was now a noticeable distance between them, and a growing lack of flirtation from her was upsetting him even further. Especially since she got more beautiful every day and Mrs. McCarthy had started taking her on her walks around the village and many of the other young men in the town were noticing the beautiful newcomer from London. Some man was going to snatch her up soon if he wasn't careful. Well Sidney was just going to have to have her first.

That Sunday Sidney drove Lady F to the church and waited outside as he was apt to do, leaning against the Rolls and smoking his cigarettes. He was thinking about Seraphina, wondering what she was wearing today, if she would smile at him today, or maybe put a hand to his arm. He had decided that if Seraphina were to offer some excuse that could land them alone, he would take it.

He knew from Father Brown and Mrs. McCarthy's complaining that Seraphina had been having trouble sleeping. That had made him happy because he was as well. What he didn't like was the big black bags under eyes and that they got deeper and darker every day. Lady F was complaining that soon there wouldn't be enough foundation in all of Kembleford to cover up those bags. Sidney felt a little bad that he hadn't been trying to sneak her away, at least for a nap. Then he'd remind himself that he wasn't to get attached and rephrase that last thought. Then Sidney was feeling bad that he hadn't try to sneak her away for a quick shag.

"So does my past and reputation disgust you?" a soft clear voice chimed from behind him. Sidney didn't need to turn, he knew it was Seraphina, her voice had been haunting him for days. He heard it at every turn, floating to him on the wind and taking away his attention. Half the time he was dreaming it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said taking another drag on his cigarette. "Shouldn't you be in church. Organ's started you'll be expected inside."

"I said I needed to use the facilities and Mrs. McCarthy let me go. I have no intention of going back and she can't come look for me now that mass has started," Seraphina shrugged. Sidney could picture her now, she'd be wearing an empire waisted dress, either green or navy blue as that was what Lady F said looked good on her. Seraphina refused to wear hats and had begun plaiting her hair back as if it were a crown and letting the black curls run free down her back. She'd be wearing a little white cardigan, the only one she liked wearing and a pair of white kid gloves. She said that last comment with a shrug of her shoulders and if he turned now she'd probably be staring at her toes.

"Devious little thing aren't ya?" he asked.

"I can't change what I am. Just like you can't change what you are," she said. "Is that a reason to despise me?"

Sidney turned at that comment. She was on the other side of the Rolls. She was in the navy blue dress, exactly like he thought she would be and wearing the white cardigan and white gloves as well. She was staring right up at him with unwavering eyes challenging him to answer her question. He took one last drag of his cigarette and threw it to the grass.

"I never said I despised you," he spat out.

"You don't want me near you anymore. You keep saying you're no gentleman but every time I get you alone you never even try to be indecent. And if you're not being prim and proper you're getting mad at me for trying to loosen you up!" she cried. "You said you weren't a gentleman, well… prove it!"

Sidney stalked around the hood of the car, and Seraphina stayed where she was pivoting her body to follow him. When he got to her, she was facing him with her hands on her hips as she stared up at him defiantly. His hands went to her shoulders and held her tight. He felt like shaking some sense into this girl, but instead he pulled her close to his body, her hands were on his chest and his heart rate sped up drastically.

"What, so you want me to just throw you down on the parish grass and have my way with you then?" he asked, hoping that she could see how ridiculous this was. "Right here, in broad daylight? With church going on five feet away."

Seraphina blinked her eyes before tilting her chin up to him in a defiant sort of way. Only then did he remember that Seraphina did not respond well to threats. "Yes. I do."

Well wasn't that a pickle. Every inch of him wanted to do just what she asked. She was surely more than willing, she was half begging him to do. Than he remembered the cracked ribs and saw the bags under her eyes and he knew he couldn't do that to her just yet. Sidney shoved her away quickly as if she were a hot coal, he pushed her a bit harder than expected she stumbled back a few steps. He forced himself to turn away from her and to growl: "Well I'm not going to." Honestly since Seraphina's arrival Sidney's iron will had gotten a lot stronger.

"Why?" she cried, following him as he walked around to the driver's side of the car. "Because I'm not a pure lady? Because my brother's a criminal? Am I not pretty enough? I mean I know I'm a little too tall and not as skinny now that I've got my weight back…."

Sidney turned around. "What the bloody hell are you on about?" he snapped. "You know damn well I don't have a single fault with the way you look! And I couldn't care less about your past or your damn brother!"

They were staring at each other now and he realized that he was going to admit why he was mad, even though he didn't want to. "Okay, your brother kind of intimidates me…"

"He's harmless enough. He wouldn't hurt you unless I asked him to," she said with a wave of her hand before pinning him with her bright green eyes. "So if that's not the problem what is then? What have I done to offend your delicate sensibilities."

"OI!" Sidney cried pointing a finger into her smirking face. He squared his shoulders and readied himself to become the biggest pansy in Kembleford. He lowered his eyes so he wouldn't have to look her in the eye as he did so. "We both know you're the one that doesn't like the way I look."

Seraphina blinked her eyes at him, her eyes softened to him, crinkling in confusion. "I am genuinely confused as to how I gave you that idea…" she whispered. "I've literally been throwing myself at you for days now…."

"Lanky beanpole," Sidney quoted with a dry glare and Seraphina stopped everything she was saying. There was a brief pause, a silence in which her mind caught up with him and then she suddenly burst out in loud raucous laughter, loud and boisterous like a man's but all it did was add to the charm of her.

"Oh you complete twit!" she cried. "That was a compliment! I like that you're lanky and tall. Do you know how hard it is to find someone taller then me? I'm 5 foot 9 inches for godsake! And lanky arms are easier to cuddle with! So much better than those usual brutish men I go after…."

Seraphina was still talking. She was telling him all about her past men and how they were giant big brutes, dense like brick walls both in muscle and in mind but Sidney had stopped listening. She didn't find him unattractive? This beautifully wonderful girl actually fancied him, right and properly fancied him? Sidney stared at her for a brief second before he launched himself at her. He took her face between his thick hands and pressed his lips hard down onto hers. Seraphina giggled against him which only made Sidney smile more and kisser her harder. He pulled her close to him, clamping her body against his. They broke away to catch his breath and she smiled joyfully up at him.

"You are a completely and utter clonker!" she whispered and Sidney smiled. He went to kiss her again but Seraphina had put her head back to his chest right above his heart where it belonged. "But you're my clonker."

Sidney smiled and tightened his hold on the girl snuggling into his chest. He knew that in a couple of minutes she'd be asleep again and there was nothing in this world that was going to wake her up when he was acting as her pillow.

* * *

Mrs. McCarthy was so mad she was certain she was about to spout all sorts of obscenities, very unladylike obscenities and in church none the less. But once it was clear Seraphina had no intention of coming back to mass all rational thought flew out the window.

By the time mass was finished she was ready to flog the girl herself, once she found her. Unless, of course, she had a good reason to have missed mass. Like her injuries kept her from returning or someone had held her against her will. Usually Mrs. McCarthy stayed to talk to the other parishioners, but not on this Sunday. She stormed out of St. Mary's on a mission, determined to find her missing ward.

When she couldn't see Sidney anywhere near Lady Felicia's fancy car, Mrs. McCarthy knew immediately that he was involved somehow. With Lady Felicia at her heels, and Father Brown following afterwards, albeit rather slowly as his parishioners were still trying to talk to him, Mrs. McCarthy stomped over to the car to look for Sidney and Seraphina.

The good news is they weren't in the car together, the bad news is, Mrs. McCarthy found them canoodling under the tree for all of them to see. Mrs. McCarthy heard Lady Felicia's soft giggles and couldn't for the life of her figure out what was so funny.

"Have you no shame?" Mrs. McCarthy hissed as she advanced on them. Sidney had taken off his hunter green jacket and draped it over Seraphina who was curled up against him, resting between his splayed legs with her head on his chest. Sidney had one knee up and bracing her back, his arm haphazardly lain on top, a smoke dangling from his fingertips. His other hand went to her head, blocking the noise out as if he were afraid it would wake her up.

"We ain't done nothing except for Seraphina getting a nap!" he argued back, his usually loud voice soft. He stroked her hair, glancing down to her to make sure she hadn't woken but Seraphina slept on, her gloved fingers gripping the fabric of his shirt tightly in her sleep.

Mrs. McCarthy swatted Sidney with her purse, and he stifled his cry of pain and surprise. It was Father Brown who stepped forward. "Come now, Mrs. McCarthy, you were complaining just this morning that Seraphina hadn't been sleeping," he reminded her.

"That's right! And I ain't going to let you wake her up now. So take your squawking else where!" Sidney snapped.

Mrs. McCarthy gasped in outrage. "Squawking?!" she echoed while Lady Felicia tried and failed to suppress her giggles.

"Regardless, moving into the presbytery would be a better idea. Away from prying eyes and what not," Father Brown said with a nod of his head. Sidney knew he was beat then, and though they could tell he didn't want to, he threw his cigarette away and after some manoeuvring he hoisted the girl up into his arms to carry her into the presbytery.

After that day it was decided that Sidney would come by once a day to help lull Seraphina into a sleep. He got two hours tops, alone with her, and they had to nap on the couch in Mrs. McCarthy's living room in plain view of anyone in the house to be sure that he didn't do anything inappropriate with her. And surprisingly Sidney was completely fine with that arrangement.

* * *

The first of the threats came by letter. When Seraphina burned them out in the street for all to see the letters stopped and the calls began. Seraphina put up with those briefly before saying very clearly into the receiver. "If you don't stop calling, Tony, I will tell Finley what you've done and let him dole out a punishment he deems fitting."

And for a brief time those calls stopped too.

Until that morning. Mrs. McCarthy wanted her to accompany her to the market, to help carry the ingredients for dinner for the next week and for several desserts. She wanted to teach Seraphina how to cook better meals then stew and tea cakes. She had woken her up early to get ready as the walk would be a long one but Mrs. McCarthy was the one who wasn't ready, leaving Seraphina to answer the phone that morning.

"Tell your brother to meet me at the train station before four or I will take my anger out on your boyfriend."

That's all he had said and that was enough for Seraphina.

Not five minutes later Mrs. McCarthy came back down the stairs. "Who was on the phone dear?" she asked as she busied herself with picking up her gloves and her purse. Silence met her ears and her she frowned in confusion. She walked into the living room and realized quite quickly that Seraphina was gone.

* * *

Sidney Carter stopped at the market on the way to pick up Lady Felicia from her luncheon. He looked around at all the things he could buy and settled on a small bouquet of roses. Now Sidney could have gone and picked roses from anyone's garden, but he chose to buy a professionally done bouquet, at a price that appalled him, for the girl who had caught his eye and seemingly managed to catch hold of his heart too.

He thought about the surprise, and figured that a girl like Seraphina wouldn't like flowers as they were impractical, but he wanted to give her something as beautiful as he thought her to be. He wanted to show her that he thought so highly of her that he actually paid for something trivial like flowers. He hoped she'd smile when she got them, she'd thank him with a kiss if he were lucky. Then he'd tell her and Mrs. McCarthy that he wanted to take her out that weekend, for a proper date, to start courting her properly. Mainly because he wanted Mrs. M off his back, but also because he wanted to do this right.

He was walking back to the Rolls, flowers in one hands, keys in the other when someone came up from behind him. He heard the boots but didn't have enough time to fight the attacker. Whoever it was came right up and grabbed him, arm over the neck, choking the life out of him. His legs were kicked out from under him before he could fight and he landed painfully on his knees.

He was barely conscious when he was lifted and practically hurled into the trunk of the Rolls, his own goddamn car. Through blurry eyes he saw the figure of a man, stocky build with a Fedora and a cheap cigar in his mouth. His stubble was a couple days old and his face looked old and scarred. He slapped Sidney's face in a cherry sort of way, three quick taps.

"Let's hope you're girlfriend calls her brother, eh?" he said. And then the trunk was closed and Sidney was left in the dark.

* * *

Lady Felicia had been quite distressed when Sidney had not arrived for her punctual as usual. Now he and her precious Rolls-Royce were missing. Mrs. McCarthy had come in just as distressed, Seraphina had gone missing after an unknown phone call. The two ladies realized that this was most likely a case of the two lovers scheduling a clandestine meeting and loosing track of time. Father Brown had a feeling that this was not the case and had taken up his bike and gone out searching. He stopped first in the market because it was always full of people and Inspector Mallory was at the flower shop looking awfully busy.

Father Brown noted that a single modest bouquet of red roses was abandoned just outside the shop and Goodfellow seemed to be asking people if they saw what happened. Father Brown ventured closer in time to hear Inspector Mallory ask: "So they just came up behind him, subdued him and threw him in the trunk of his fancy car and then what? You just did nothing?"

Father Brown decided that Mallory was in a bad mood and approached Sargent Goodfellow. He frowned when Father Brown got his attention. "I'm sorry Father Brown, I know you knew him but I can't divulge any of the clues or suspect yet."

That was a troublesome statement. "Knew who?" he wondered.

"You don't know?" he asked, looking mightly astonished. He recovered his composure and continued. "It's Sidney Father. These men took him and Lady Felicia's car. Drove off down the road, don't know where they were heading."

Father Brown looked around at what was around him. He thought very carefully about everything he knew, and what Mrs. McCarthy told him about the phone calls from an unknown number and an unknown man for Seraphina. She had thought them to be a lover or her brother but Seraphina seemed too upset by them for it to be a lover. He thought about what she had said about the men who had been lost in transit when they were being transported to London for their criminal hearings. _Tony wouldn't have let them get that far. They're either dead or back under his thumb._ Anthony St. Clair. The man who was after her was probably behind this as well.

The problem was, where would he go? Father Brown thanked Goodfellow for the information and then got on his bike. He had a hunch and he was going to check first before he alerted the police. You know… just in case he was wrong.


	6. Chapter 6

Father Brown and the Baxter Twins

 **AvalonReeseFanFics**

 _A/N: So here we are! The next chapter! Thanks to everyone who's told me what they think so far! Please tell me if you like this chapter as well. the parts here are a lot smaller but all in all this chapter is a lot longer than the others, so hopefully that makes up for it. Please Enjoy!_

Chapter 6: The Man who was Angry

* * *

Seraphina jimmied the lock on the camper with an efficiency that would have shocked poor Sidney to the core. She let herself in, already knowing that he wasn't in there as he hadn't answered her knocks. To be honest she had been a little afraid that Anthony St. Clair had killed him and left his body in here for her to find. She rifled under Sidney's bed for what she had left there the first time she had been conscious and then looked around at what was left. She chose what she was going to be borrowing with care, but couldn't resist taking his second pair of just-thoroughly-shined knee high hessian boots.

* * *

Father Brown, carefully crept along the track to where the supply carts were hooked and peaked into the only one with the door still open. He had seen a man smoking a cigarette leave the area and he had a feeling that he knew why someone was guarding this cart. He poked his head in and found what he was looking for, tied up and trying to wiggle the ropes off of his hands.

Father Brown hoisted himself up into the cart and Sidney sighed with relief. "Thank God!" he whispered. "We better get me out of here before the others get back. One's looking for Seraphina, we have to get to him before he gets to her."

Father Brown felt that now wasn't the time to mention that they would probably wouldn't find Seraphina and instead scrambled over to him, he knelt down in front of Sid to help him get the rope off of his hands when he heard a soft chuckle and the click of a gun.

"When I grabbed this lanky cube I expected Finley would show up again or his sister would come to the rescue," a shadowy voice said. "I wasn't expecting a priest."

Father Brown turned and found a man behind him. He was short and stocky, built for lifting heavy things with a thick chest and hands large for good beatings. His fedora was tipped low, but Father Brown could tell that the suit was cheap and the man hadn't shaved in a while. He smelt of grease and dirty waters. He was very kindly not aiming his gun a them.

"Seraphina's not a part of this!" Sidney spat out.

"Oh she very much is, cube-boy, she's the easiest way to get a hold of that slippery little prick and the easiest way to get him to cave. He does everything she tells him to," the man taunted. "Now sit down and don't give me any trouble. I don't want to harm a man of God, but I will if I have to."

Father Brown sat himself down beside Sidney and let the man tie him up without a fuss. "It must really bother you that your main competition is being controlled by a young woman, Mr. St. Clair" he said to him.

The man finished tying up the ropes and chuckled at him. "How do you know who I am?" he asked. "She still talking about that one night we had?"

Sidney had to fight the urge to kick the man square in the chest for that comment. He didn't want to think that Seraphina had anything to do with St. Clair, even as a youthful indiscretion. Father Brown kept his cool much easier. "You have a London look about you, you smell of the dock and she mentioned that you had gone away for vacation in the country. We assumed that you would make your way here at some point."

Anthony St. Clair straightened with a laugh. "Holy and Smart, quite the package priest."

"He's a _Father_!" Sidney snapped which only caused the large man towering over them laugh more.

"You two better hope that girl or her brother show up because at four, when the train leaves, I'm going to be taking you back to London with me and you'll be staying with me and my company until one of them comes to trade you off," he warned. "And we're not good company, are we boys?"

From the door the two men Sidney had beat that first night were standing there, bruised and battle worn just like Seraphina was. They were laughing and smoking too and Sidney was a little worried they'd want to get some revenge on him too.

"Did you find the girl?" St. Clair asked.

"Naw, she's skipped off. Wouldn't be surprised if she left town," one of them told him.

St. Clair laughed at his two hostages. "That's the Baxter's for you, they only look out for themselves."

Sidney ground his teeth in frustration. He knew Seraphina wouldn't leave him like this. She was coming, or her brother was, point was, she wasn't going to let these men taken their frustrations out on him.

* * *

The train whistle blew, the train pulled out of the station. Inspector Mallory had found Lady Felicia's Rolls-Royce parked in the back of the train station. There was no sign of Sidney anywhere, or anyone who could have abducted him like the shop owner had said. Goodfellow was canvasing the people in the station for the any sign of the men in the descriptions or of Sidney. Instead Mallory found Father Brown's bike.

The train was gone now, it had officially left and if Father Brown had been near by and hadn't been found yet, he was most likely on that train. And if he was, in fact, on the train that meant that either Sidney or the men who took him were on that train.

He was going to call out to Goodfellow to tell him that they needed to stop that train when someone came up behind him and tapped his shoulder. Mallory turned to tell this person off, to tell them to get lost but when he turned a fist connected with his jaw and sent him sprawling.

He was on the ground for five seconds before he felt someone going through the pockets of his long coat. "Sorry, guv," a rough voice said. "Just gots to borrow your car."

Before he could get up, whoever the voice belonged to, was in the Rolls-Royce and starting the car up. He got up just in time to watch the car speed off. By the time that Mallory was back off his feet, Goodfellow had managed to run to him, and helped him dust off. Embarrassed by what had just transpired he snapped a little too aggressively at him to get someone to stop that goddamn train and for someone else to go after that stupid car.

When he caught up with that little punk that jumped him he was going to put him in jail until the end of time.

* * *

He stopped the car at the bridge and got out. He checked a golden pocket watch he nicked off the copper he had slugged to get the car. He had driven that fancy Rolls like a bat out of hell, he should have gotten past the train. The wail of the siren was off in the distance, someone sent to get him for taking the car, no doubt.

He put the watch back in his pocket as the steam from the train came into view. He hadn't done something this reckless in years, and though he didn't want to admit it, he was getting older. There was a good chance that he wouldn't stick the landing, or he'd land on the wrong cart and not the one he had spotted the idiots returning to, but he knew that he didn't have any other option. If he missed this train there would be dire consequences. It wouldn't be that bad if he missed the specific cart, but he wanted to be timely with his rescue.

The train whizzed past underneath him, disappearing into the tunnel, well, the small tunnel anyway and he climbed up onto the wall. He pulled his borrowed cap down snuggly on his head to make sure it didn't fall off and just as the cop car pulled up, he jumped.

* * *

With the train moving, Father Brown and Sidney were certain that both Seraphina and Finley had abandoned them. Sidney had hunkered down while Father Brown's keen eyes took in everything around him certain that God wouldn't abandon them in their time of need and that all he needed to do was stay calm and he'd think of a way out of this situation. Sidney couldn't believe that the girl who had stolen a little piece of his heart had done this to him, this was worse than what the Brewer's Daughter had done to him. At least she hadn't left him in the hands of a very dangerous criminal who had more than ill intentions towards him.

St. Clair came over to them, he stood in front of Sidney and smirked down at him in a dangerous sort of way. He dug into his pocket and came back with a flashing piece of silver. He pressed a little button and the knife flew out gleaming dangerously in the shadows.

"You better be about to cut us loose!" Sidney snarled sarcastically and was rewarded with a quick kick that jarred his legs, but Sidney refused to yelp in pain.

"No, I'm going to start leaving pieces of you for that bitch to find," he snarled. He squatted down in front of Sidney and pulled his bound hands towards him.

"Is this the path you really want to choose? Will taking Sidney apart fill that void, or make up for what the Baxter twins have done to you? It's not too late to repent," Father Brown said quickly which earned him a dry glare from St. Clair.

Sidney kicked out at him knocking the man down. "You bloody-well stay away from me, mate!" he warned.

St. Clair glared at him and snapped his fingers. In a fast flurry the two men were on Sidney, one quick jab to the stomach had him gasping and wheezing and then they were holding him down and forcing his hands out to St. Clair who was ready with the knife.

"You do not need to do this, I'm certain there are better ways to get the Baxter Twins' attention," Father Brown cried, but St. Clair was undeterred. He forced the index finger out on Sidney's right hand and brought the knife to it.

And then they heard the distinct sound of something heavy landing on the roof of the car.

The darkness of the tunnel enveloped them and the five men in the cart were suddenly very silent as they listened. The two bigger men let Sidney go and stood, St. Clair stood too. They were all staring at the ceiling and waiting, as if God himself was going to come down and smite them.

The train came out from the tunnel and the silence became less heavy. Until they heard the footsteps above them.

St. Clair tossed one guy his knife. "Go, deal with it," he ordered. The one who caught the knife glared at him, his stare clearly saying something along the lines of: "Are you out of your mind?" but he begrudgingly went to the side, forced the door to slide open anyway.

He climbed out the side, using the ladder to get up to the top. After an agonizing minute of waiting, there was a yelp of pain, followed by a scream and then they saw the man fall to the tracks below. The train kept on going and that was the end of that henchman. Father Brown and Sidney exchanged glances before crossing themselves, Father Brown began muttering a prayer for the soul of the possibly deceased.

St. Clair turned to his last remaining guy. "It's Finley," he snapped and then both of them had guns out. There was a creaking of hinges and light flooded in from above. It was the ceiling hatch, used for ventilation when transporting animals. St. Clair jerked his head in the direction of the light and the second henchman rushed forward using the supply crates to climb up. He got to the opening, got halfway through it and then lid slammed down, everyone below heard the crunch and everyone winced when the second henchman, now unconscious, collapsed to the floor, crushing a box on the way down.

The door slammed shut and footsteps were heard once more. St. Clair cocked his gun and aimed it behind him in the general direction of Sidney and Father Brown. "Show yourself Finley or I'll blow a hole in one of your friends," he shouted over the sound of the train or the tracks.

For a brief moment a light flooded in from the door that the conductors used to get through but it wasn't open long. Once it shut again the shadows descended and they could hear St. Clair suck in his breath in anticipation.

There was a metallic flick and then a light was seen again. This time orange. From a lighter, one of the fancy metals ones. Someone was walking towards them, flicking that lighter open and shut as they did so.

"I saw your handiwork on my sister's face," a rough voice called out, it was soft but threatening, like a growl from a cornered dog. "You couldn't resist backhanding her with your signet ring, could you?"

Finley was in plain view now. He was smaller than Sidney expected him to be. He had a newsboy cap pulled snuggly down, shadowing his face even farther. He was wearing knee high black books and a loose pair of pants. His dress shirt look freshly laundered but with grease stains on the rolled up sleeves and he was wearing a thick knitted vest with a geometric pattern. It was all in fresh green and smudging brown colors. Sidney couldn't help but notice that the boots looked very familiar, in fact the whole outfit looked quite familiar.

"You should have kept your nose out of my business," St. Clair snapped.

"You should have kept your business off of my turf," Finley growled back.

St. Clair raised his gun, "It's my turf now," he growled with a sick looking smirk on his face. The gun was level with Finley's chest when it discharged, and Finely dropped to his knees. For a brief second Sidney thought that Finley had been shot and St. Clair must have thought that too for he lowered his gun.

In that moment Finley shot forward, one hand knocking the gun from his grip the other swinging deftly up towards his jaw. The first hit sent St. Clair sprawling and then Finley tackled him down to the floor. It was all a blur but it ended with Finley straddling St. Clair's chest, one hand gripping the cuff of his shirt and the other pummelling him over and over until St. Clair's face was all bloody and he was barely conscious.

Finley got up off of St. Clair and dragged him up to his feet. He pulled him over to the still open service hatch where they could see the scenery whizzing past. Father Brown caught on really quick to what Finley was planning.

"You don't have to do this," he called out. "Killing him won't right the wrongs he's done to you or your sister. For the sake of your mortal soul you must turn the other cheek."

Finley shot a look over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed but Sidney could tell that they were the same light green as Seraphina's just sharper. "Sorry, Father, but I'm not a religious man."

And then he shoved St. Clair out of the door.

* * *

Not long after St. Clair was forcibly ejected from the train cart did the wail of sirens reach their ears and the train began to break. Finley rushed over to Sidney and knelt down in front of him.

"I don't got long," he said quickly. "It's my understanding that my sister doesn't want to come back to London and while she hasn't flat out said it's because of you I think we both know that she has never really wanted to settle down before meeting you."

Sidney felt his heart blossom in his chest, beating rapidly and wildly out of control he watched this dangerous man in front of him while trying very hard not to grin like an idiot. He wanted to say that he wanted to settle down with Finley's sister very much, that he may not be rich or a proper gentleman and yeah he tended to walk that dangerous line between legal and criminal, but he would always treat her like a bloody queen. But it didn't seem appropriate to say that to the man that had either grievously wounded three men or flat out killed them.

"So, obviously, if you break my sister's heart I'll come back here and break your bloody legs," Finley finished, slapping his hands against Sidney's knees in a playful yet painful manner. He laughed a bit before sobering up. "I trust you will take care of her though?"

Father Brown leant over and said very confidently: "Oh yes, it won't just be Sid you know. All of us will look after her as if she were our own. Lady Felicia, Mrs. McCarthy and I, we will all be sure to keep your sister safe and well taken care of during her stay with us in Kembleford."

Finely stared at him for a brief second before cracking a familiar smirk and nodding to him. "Thanks mate," he said cheerfully before standing up again. He pointed a single finger at Sidney, "Don't you dare make me come back here," he warned.

The train had come to a complete stop and Finley went to the door. He didn't say good-bye, he merely looked both ways and then hopped off the train. Sidney and Father Brown watched as he ran off into the woods at a surprising speed, the whistles of the cops ringing through the air as a few gave chase.

Sidney and Father Brown were stuck there. Finley hadn't cut their ropes.

* * *

As Sidney jogged towards his camper he couldn't help but groan. It took forever to get this far.

First it was Mallory and Goodfellow chiding Sidney and Father Brown for their involvement in this as they cut the bonds from their wrists. Then it was Mallory certain that Sidney had been involved in all of this somehow, due to his dubious reputation. That led to Mallory hauling him in and asking a ridiculous amount of stupid questions as if Sidney wasn't the victim or as if he knew where Finley had gone since evading capture. It took Lady F bursting into the interrogating room, whacking Mallory over the head with her handbag and then flat out telling him that Sidney was going home as he had been the victim of all of this after all. Nor was she pressing any chargers as her car had been found and Sidney couldn't have very well stolen it from the trunk of the car after all.

He found that Father Brown and Mrs. McCarthy were waiting in the foyer for Sidney's release but no Seraphina. That was when he found out that Seraphina was still missing.

It made sense, she would have had to get word to Finely to get up there in time to save him. They had no doubt met up and had some words about a plan, especially since she had managed to tell her brother that she didn't plan to return to London with him. For a brief moment he was worried that the two henchmen had gotten her after all, but that most likely wasn't the case. Seraphina was probably holed up somewhere safe waiting for the word to come out of hiding.

So the four split up, each to search in different areas of the town for her. Sidney knew where he was going and it wasn't to the square as Father Brown had suggested. He went straight to his camper, his heart racing to see a light flickering inside.

He opened the door and there she was. Standing at the sink, across from the door waiting for him. She blinked at him, her eyes wide with fear, as if she expected him to be cross with her.

"You know, I had flowers to give you but they got lost in the scuffle," he said. He took one step up into the camper and Seraphina launched herself at him, her lips on his before he could say a single thing more.

He crushed her to him, kissing her back with a ferocity he didn't know was in him, honestly he had just thought he was tired. His arms snaked around her waist and out of the corner of his eyes he noticed that the boots he had just shined that morning were scuffed up and muddy as if they had been worn in the forest. But Sidney only wore those for work so they wouldn't have seen a forest recently. And he noticed one of his dress shirts, the one he got grease stains on the sleeve of was sitting out not where he left it, folded neatly which was not the norm for him.

He wanted to ask Seraphina about it but her insistent kisses were most distracting and by the time the thought had popped back into his head, Mrs. McCarthy had found them both, boxed both their ears and then dragged Seraphina off of him.

Seraphina was officially rooming with Mrs. McCarthy, even though she had protested vehemently that she wanted to stay with Sidney, it was clear that the camper wouldn't fit the two of them. Sidney felt that he might officially be in love. And for some reason he was certain that Seraphina had leant her brother his boots and his shirt, though why she had done that, or how she had gotten them back from him were beyond his thinking. Maybe he'd bring it up to Father Brown in the morning.


	7. Chapter 7

Father Brown and the Baxter Twins

 **AvalonReeseFanFics**

 _A/N: Has it really been a year since I updated this story? Oh my god will I have any readers left? Please tell if you're still out there. I'm going to try to write more, but I make no promises, I've been focusing on one fanfiction and I can't even get that one out on time. :'( I'll try to be better. Also please don't mad at this chapter. It needed to happen but it does end... somewhat nicely?_

Chapter 7: The Man who Let Go

* * *

Father Brown paused and smiled as he looked into his living room and found Seraphina wrapped up in Sidney's arms napping peacefully together. Sid was lying on his back, his head propped up by one of Mrs. McCarthy's embroidered pillows. He had one arm draped over her waist and the other over his eyes blocking out the sunlight. Seraphina was half on his chest and half on the couch, her face was tucked in and her hands were gripping the shirt that Sidney had half unbuttoned, probably because he was overheating.

Mrs. McCarthy and Lady Felicia join him, Mrs. McCarthy is scowling and tsking, not liking the arrangement but it was the only way for Seraphina to get any sort of real rest. Lady Felicia, on the other hand, sighed happily at the picturesque scene. She adored Seraphina and Sidney together and was often advocating their new relationship.

Seraphina had been with them a whole month and half by now. Her bruises had faded, she had gotten her figure back and proved to be both a troublesome young lady and a very beautiful one. Sidney was very clear about coming to Mrs. McCarthy and asking her permission to court Seraphina in the most sincerest of manners and while Mrs. McCarthy had wanted to say no, Seraphina had said yes. He had been taking her out every weekend and calling most afternoons. It seemed that every time he was in her presence, which was often since Lady F was often visiting with Father Brown and Mrs. McCarthy that Sidney was presenting her with little tokens that Seraphina said weren't necessary but were well received none-the-less. She didn't even care that they were obviously nicked.

"It's right improper, it is," Mrs. McCarthy hissed.

Lady Felicia sighed. "Hardly, they're properly dating now, the two of them, and they're fully clothed. I've done way worse than that and you know it," she shot back.

"She didn't finish her chores," Mrs. McCarthy snapped at her, not willing to get into an argument with Lady Felicia about her questionable morals about sleeping around whilst married.

Seraphina was now in charge of cleaning the presbytery. Every day she would walk with Mrs. McCarthy and spend the day cleaning, dusting, or helping Mrs. McCarthy bake. And almost every day Sid and Lady Felicia would stop by for tea so Sid could give Seraphina her nap or some small trinket he had found for her. True Seraphina hadn't done much that morning before Sidney showed up to give her a break but there wasn't really much else to do at the presbytery, she had the place spotless.

When she wasn't cleaning she was answering phones, typing up notes for him, taking messages, and practicing her baking. At first, the baking had been a bit worrying but since then there had been some distinct improvement. With all her practice, she could now make a mean banana bread and her chocolate chip cookies were less lethal and more to die for.

What Mrs. McCarthy objected to was Seraphina's choice in mate. She had hoped that such a beautiful girl like her, getting the opportunity to start a new in a place where her past wasn't as well known, would chose someone more respectable then Sidney Carter. Especially since she had some very respectable men hovering around her that Mrs. McCarthy thought would be a better choice than Sidney. She kept trying to set Seraphina up with one of them but she had proved to be stubborn about it.

"We should leave them to it," Father Brown insisted pulling the two women down the hallway and into the kitchen where their teacups were awaiting them, each filled with lukewarm tea. "Why don't we talk about the new fundraising idea Lady Felicia came up with."

"A dance for the young folk of the town," Mrs. McCarthy spat out. "A speakeasy in the church common room. What's next prostitutes in the pulpit?"

"Nonsense, it will be a lot of fun. The older ladies can provide the refreshments and we can charge a pound at the door and remind them that they can donate as much as they want. We can even have a prize for the prettiest dancing couple that I can provide totally free of charge, of course. It's a simply wonderful idea!"

"But it does not send the right message!" Mrs. McCarthy cried only to have Lady Felicia hush her. "It's promoting carnal sins."

"It's dancing Mrs. McCarthy, we're hardly going to give them rooms at the end of the night," Lady Felicia argued.

Mrs. McCarthy huffed as if it didn't quite matter what they were doing it was still going to be a sin. Lady Felicia pinned her with a dry glare. "Come on now Mrs. M, you need to lighten up."

Mrs. McCarthy sniffed indignantly, she probably had a good comeback for that comment but Sid interrupted them. "Why does Mrs. M need to lighten up?" he asked, but before anyone could answer, he added: "And is there any tea left?"

As Lady Felicia said: "We're putting on a dance to fundraise for our new roof," Mrs. McCarthy asked: "Where is Seraphina?" and Father Brown said: "Of course there's tea!"

It was a whole jumble of words but that didn't seem to faze Sid. "She's in the loo," he answered through a mouthful of cookie no one saw him swipe from Mrs. McCarthy's plate. Once he swallowed, he added: "Dance huh? Kind of juvenile don't you think?"

Lady Felicia started to argue as Sidney put his tea together adding milk and honey, which was not the way he usually took his tea.

"Dance? There's going to be a dance?" Seraphina asked appearing beside Sidney. He immediately threw an arm around her shoulder and offered her the tea he had be preparing and then snatched another cookie off of Mrs. McCarthy's plate and put it in her other hand.

"Mmm, thank you," she whispered before turning her attention to Felicia. "Did you say dance?"

Lady Felicia perked up immediately. "Why, yes, yes I did. We're going to throw a dance to help fundraise for a new roof for the church!"

Seraphina turned her bright eyes to Sidney. "Oh that sounds like fun!" she cried.

Sidney merely scoffed. "No it doesn't not," he told her, not noticing that her smile had faded. She took a step away from him letting his arm drop from her shoulder.

"Well, I would like to go," she told him, putting a hand on her hip and glaring up to him.

"And I would not," Sidney shot back glaring back at her himself. "And there's nothing you can do or say that will change my mind."

"Sweeties, the event isn't planed yet, we're not even sure we're going to do," Lady Felicia called only to be ignored by the bickering couple.

"Fine! Then I'll go with someone else!" Seraphina shouted.

"Fine! See if I care!" Sidney shouted back and then the two of them stormed off. Sidney out the back door and Seraphina disappearing into the further recesses of the presbytery.

The three older adults stared after them. However, it was Father Brown who breathed out: "Well that's worrying."

* * *

Lady Felicia knocked on the door to Father Brown's office were Seraphina was furiously dusting. "Do you, maybe, want to talk about what just happened in the kitchen?" she asked.

Seraphina turned to her a scowl on her face. "Do you know any eligible young men that will want to take me to a dance?" she asked instead.

Lady Felicia was going to tell her that Sidney would if she asked nicely enough, but Mrs. McCarthy pushed past her and cut her off. "Of course, I know plenty. There's Tom McCormick at the butchers, or Riley Mead at the florists. I personally am very fond of Joshua Hutch, he's a farmer, good lad, just took over his father's farm. Big strapping thing, asks about you whenever I go to pick up eggs. You should come with me next time."

Seraphina nodded grimly. "Yeah, let's do that," she said. "And the butchers guy, black hair right? Yeah, he's cute."

Mrs. McCarthy clapped her hands and squealed with delight. "Oh this is just wonderful," she cried before turning away no doubt to get started on her grand matchmaking scheme. This left Lady Felicia alone with Seraphina.

She swallowed carefully before taking a step forward. "You know, this is nothing more than a spat," she said to her. "You two will be right as rain by tomorrow."

Seraphina turned away from the window a grim look at her face. "Is it though?" she asked her. "He was pretty quick to push me towards someone else."

"Sidney was just angry," Felicia urged. "He didn't mean it."

"Well I'm not about to sit around and wait for him to mean it," she said, huffing and turning back to the window. "I'm not going to wait for anyone."

"It's just a small argument, Fina," she reminded her. "This is nothing."

Seraphina bowed her head. "But it's not the first," she whispered. "He's not willing to change. And I'm not willing to stop being myself to please him."

"For goodness sake, Fina, it's not as bad as that," Felicia argued, but Seraphina wasn't listening. She was staring intently out the window. And even though Felicia couldn't get her to explain what she meant, she heard Seraphina whisper to herself: "He doesn't want me."

Lady Felicia tried to get her to explain, tried to tell her that it couldn't possibly be true, that Sidney was completely and utterly besotted with her. Her mind, it would see, was to remain unchanged.

* * *

In the driveway Father Brown had found Sidney leaning against the car smoking. He approached him cautiously, knowing the scowl on his face the second he saw it.

"Can you believe her, Father?" Sidney asked blowing the smoke out more aggressively than he usually did. "Find someone else to put up with her indeed."

"I feel like this might be a slight over exaggeration," Father Brown told him. When Sidney only glared at him Father Brown continued. "I think there's a larger issue at hand here. Is there something bothering you Sidney?"

Father Brown already knew that something was bothering him. His left leg had been twitching throughout this whole conversation and there was a tremor in his hand holding his cigarette.

"Naw, I'm right as rain," he said with a fake confidence that only Father Brown could detect as false. "I'm just annoyed with her, you know me, I'm not the settling type."

Father Brown said nothing for a bit and instead stared at him. He had known Sidney since he was a young boy. He knew that there was a goodness in his heart under his cold and cynical shell. Something must have happened for him to put those walls back up after Seraphina had managed to crack her way through it. Maybe it was the speed in which she had managed to infiltrate into his heart that had Sidney on the run.

Either way it was a load of balderdash. Sidney was the settling type and he had his eyes set on settling with Seraphina, no matter was saying at that moment.

"I just hope the two of you don't act too rashly," he said. "I'd hate to see you two suffer over poor choices made in the midst of an argument.

Sidney and Father Brown both chose that moment to look up to the presbytery, where they saw the curtains to an upstairs room fall shut. Sidney stared at it for a long while before he turned away again. He threw his cigarette to the ground and crushed it under his boot.

"I know what I'm doing," he said, but Father Brown wasn't certain he did.

* * *

Sidney stopped coming by the Presbytery. He stopped bring trinkets, or flowers, or giving Seraphina her naps. And Seraphina had started seeing other men.

It started with one date with the Butcher's shop boy, Tom McCormick, and then another with Riley Mead from the florists who blew it on the first date. Her third date was with Joshua Hutch and it went remarkably well.

The following date with Tom had also gone exceedingly well and then it became a rivalry for her affection between Tom and Joshua. Her nights became a dance card, juggling two guys who were more than interested in willing her favour. She had borrowed so many of Lady Felicia's clothes that her closet was soon bursting, even though she only wore her dresses once. Soon Mrs. McCarthy's house was filled with flowers again and Seraphina was receiving more traditions and expensive trinkets.

But she wasn't happy, and neither was Sid.

Seraphina was well behaved with her dates, but melancholy at all other times. She started every time a car drove up to the presbytery, she waited to see if Sidney would accompany Lady Felicia in, and then would hover by windows to stare at him when he waited outside for the Lady to come out. She made sure that the dates she went on were out in public places, restaurants, bars, walks through town, horseback riding through the countryside, she was always seen, always certain that someone would tell Sidney.

Sidney's temper and drinking had worsened. He went drinking every night after one of Seraphina's date, he got in fights, and spent one too many nights in lock up for bad behaviour and public drunkenness. He refused to go into the presbytery if he knew Seraphina was inside and when he did go in he sat on edge waiting to see if she'd appear. And when she didn't he left dejected with a slump to his usually proud shoulders.

Both young adults ignored the advice of their older and wiser peers. They stewed in their own misery. The only one who seemed content was Mrs. McCarthy.

Then there came the dance. Both Joshua and Tom had asked to escort Seraphina and when she couldn't decide they nearly had a fist fight over who would get to take her. Joshua had clearly been winning before Sergeant Goodfellow broke them up so he won the pleasure of escorting her to the dance. She didn't even care that he was sporting a shiner from the fight. To reward him for his gallantry she had kissed him on the cheek, but Joshua had been quicker and turned his head so that kiss landed squarely on his lips.

But Sidney didn't know that yet.

Sidney was helping Father Brown and Mrs. McCarthy to put up decorations for this stupid dance. He was on a tall ladder putting up streamers and other hanging absurdities. He knew that Lady Felicia was at the shops, having walked Seraphina over there to pick out a new dress for the dance. He knew that meant she was going, but it didn't mean she had date yet… maybe it wasn't too late.

He was trying very hard not to listen to Mrs. McCarthy as she talked to Father Brown. And it wasn't working.

"Oh you would have been ashamed Father. The two boys were brawling in the middle of the lane, right in front of my house," she said to him as she arranged the refreshments table. Father Brown was fiddling with paper plates, he shot a worried look at Sidney who concentrated a little too hard on the stream in his hand and ripped it.

"Goodness Sidney, be careful or we won't have enough," Mrs. McCarthy chided before turning back to Father Brown. "Anyway, Sergeant Goodfellow had to come through and pull them apart, poor tom had the worst of it had had to go off to the doctor. At this point I didn't want her with either of them, but Joshua asked her again and she agreed to go with him. And then the cheeky bugger stole a kiss. Right in my front room."

Sidney suddenly dropped the hammer he was using to nail the streams up. It clattered horribly against the hardwood floors as he clutched the ladder for dear life.

He knew she had been seeing other people. But she hadn't kissed them before. He had made sure, she had been nothing but a laughing flirt, for what he thought was for show, to piss him off. Which had worked of course, but if she was actually going around kissing these buffoons he may have been wrong.

"Are you alright Sid?" Father Brown called up to him and Sidney forced himself to let go of his death grip on the ladder and climb down.

"Yeah, I just need some fresh air," he said once he got to the ground. He didn't stick around to get the lecture from Father Brown, he didn't need it. He fairly rushed outside and once he was out he ran. He ran until he was in the woods, until his legs hurt and the burning in his chest was from his lungs not the ache in his heart. When he finally came to a stop he hunched over, struggling to catch his breath.

He had done this. This was his fault. He had been so desperate to do things right so things would end right for once that he hadn't seen what he had done. She had wanted him, so desperately, she had thrown herself at him, practically begged him to bed her. When he turned her down over and over she had started to question whether or not he actually wanted her.

That stupid argument about the dance hadn't been just about the dance. Before she had gone into the washroom they had had a talk, about how if they could get some time alone she wouldn't have let him say no, and to be honest it was getting hard to keep saying no to her, and she knew it. The dance would have been the perfect time to slip away, and he saw it on hr face in that kitchen.

He had effectively told her to find someone else to screw her as he wouldn't be.

And by the looks of it she had found someone.

Sidney was so distraught by this that his stomach was turning. It was so bad he almost did vomit but he forced himself to hold it down. He knew that this was his fault. And he knew wanted to fix it. He just didn't know if he could.


End file.
